The ferrite bar is unusually long for a no-name Japanese transistor radio of the 60's and as a general rule the longer (larger) the ferrite in the loopstick the better. I just noticed one more feature on the pc board so there are three potential reasons why this could be a serious radio.......

2) The three gang tuning condenser. As a general rule this implies a tuned RF amplifier ahead of the mixer (kudos to G3RZP). This means one gang (usually the one with the largest plates) resonates the loopstick at the intended frequency, the next peaks the RF amplifier to match, the third tunes the local oscillator. If this had been an AM / FM radio there would be a minimum of four gangs but since it's AM only the third gang tells you there's an extra tuned stage up front.

3) Count the number of "IF cans". The green slug jobbie in the lower left probably couples the RF amp to the mixer stage while the red can slightly to its right is the local oscillator coil. So what's up with the remaining three cans? Two stages of IF amplification plus a detector coil (the two IF cans are on either side of the speaker magnet). With two tuned stages in the front end plus three tuned stages in the IF / detector, the radio should be noticeably more sensitive and selective than the typical AA5 or six transistor pocket portable where the antenna circuit connects directly to the mixer and there is only one IF coil plus one detector coil.

If we had a schizmatic we could confirm this, but if what I suspect is true there are no ideas in the Browni that haven't been used in high end receivers since the early 30's by RCA, Zenith and others. You just don't see it very often in a 60's vintage pocket portable, aside from a few high end Zenith and Motorola designs.

Which is why Zenith Royale transistor radios tend to fetch premium coin. You can read the PC board on a yard sale radio by noticing things like this to pick the winners from the runner-ups in terms of design sophistication......

You can find the squidmatic on Page 58 of the Beitme Most Needed book from 1960. When that radio was brand new the president was nicknamed " Ike " and the Veep was not a crook. Yet. Gotta' love those Conelrad marks...

1) It's not a Philco. Vinnie loves him them Philco's, especially the phugly ones.2) As this picture plainly shows, someone has unsoldered one side of the internal loop antenna. It would take Vinnie weeks to figure that out.3) Referring to the same picture, notice the metal tube. Vinnie does not approve of metal tubes. They deny him the uniquely tubular experience of filament glow which is like a religious thing with him. He thinks of a 6SN7 as the " Gemini " tube.

1) It's not a Philco. Vinnie loves him them Philco's, especially the phugly ones.2) As this picture plainly shows, someone has unsoldered one side of the internal loop antenna. It would take Vinnie weeks to figure that out.3) Referring to the same picture, notice the metal tube. Vinnie does not approve of metal tubes. They deny him the uniquely tubular experience of filament glow which is like a religious thing with him. He thinks of a 6SN7 as the " Gemini " tube.

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